Database management processes can include one or more aspects that require identification of matching records. As an example, a de-duplication process can include determining whether two or more records are at least partially duplicative. Records determined to refer to a same entity (e.g. a same person, a same instance of a business process, a same invoice, etc.) can be combined if none of the duplicate records include all information that should be retained in a single record representation of the entity. Alternatively, if combining of the records is not necessary, for example because at least one of the records includes all information that should be retained in a single record representation of the entity, one or more of the matching records can be deleted. De-duplication can be useful when partially overlapping data sets are merged or otherwise combined.